"Liebe Wetzel and her crew create more emotion and eloquence than most dialogue-filled plays can produce in two hours…one stirring image after another. "
– Chad Jones, Oakland Tribune

"Serious stuff…timely…a reflection on the erosion of civil liberties in times of national crisis…performed (with) the Wetzel ensemble's usual, often astonishingly creative use of found objects."– Rob Hurwitt, SF Chronicle

"This story leaves one afraid to blink for fear of missing out."– Nichi Bei Times

"Puppetry like you've never seen before, it's more like watching Live 3D animation."– San Jose Mercury News

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"Whereas, The successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national defense material, national defense premises and national defense utilities… "
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
The White House, February 19, 1942.

Using a Japanese tea set, table cloth, sand, brown paper, and an old suitcase, the ensemble creates the poignant, moving story of one family's forced evacuation from their home in Berkeley to Topaz, Utah during WWII and their return at the end of the war.
Performed in Live 3D Animation

Beginning on February 19, 1942, approximately 110,000 ethnic Japanese and people of Japanese decent living on the United States west coast were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in remote camps in California and Utah. Over half of the 110,000 internees were children. This incarceration was the result of the infamous Executive Order 9066, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the wake of Pearl Harbor. In June 2005, EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 was performed at The Topaz Museum in Delta, Utah, site of the internment camp featured in the play, at ceremonies commemorating the 60th anniversary of the camp’s closing.

Lunatique Fantastique using images told by survivors and history text to create the story of one family and their struggle before, during and after life in an internment camp. Lunatique Fantastique ensemble members participated in research— interviewing surviving internees and people who were affected by the order. Also, Lunatique Fantastique consulted with The Japanese American Museum of San Jose, The Topaz Museum in Delta, Utah and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

This work is dedicated to the memory of Donna Nomura Dobkin, whose parents were sent to Topaz.